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A bitter AFC West division rivalry sets the league afire when the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders face off in Week 5.

This particular battle doesn’t carry epic weight thanks to the Raiders coming in at just 1-3 on the season, but the return of dual threat quarterback Terrelle Pryor (out last week with concussion) certainly makes it interesting.

Oakland hosts San Diego, who enters at 2-2 thanks to a red-hot Philip Rivers and a very effective Mike McCoy-lead Chargers offense. Rivers hasn’t just been kind of hot, either. He’s fresh off of back to back weeks of completing over 83% of his passes, with three straight games above 76%.

October 4, 2013

The San Diego Chargers haven’t been a playoff time since LaDainian Tomlinson was still a lightning bolt on the field, and even then there was a sense of staleness in the Norv Turner era.

With yet another disappointing season in 2012, the Chargers closed to door on Turner’s San Diego legacy and moved on to new head coach Mike McCoy.

McCoy brings a new perspective and another elite offensive mind to the table, while also potentially making the most of quarterback Philip Rivers. With Rivers seemingly deteriorating in Turner’s vertical scheme, McCoy has brought in a new dink-and-dunk passing game to hopefully resurrect Rivers’ floundering career.

September 17, 2013

Start with a game that most everyone thought the Chargers would lose, make it highly competitive, and then take the optimistic hearts of Chargers fans, packed full of renewed hope, and rip them out of our chests. That’s basically what we got on Monday Night.

We learned a lot about the Chargers in the first game of the season. First, we saw what good coaching can do to a team. The first half of football against the Texans offered us a disciplined team, playing hard and playing well. It’s been a long time since I felt like a Chargers team was fully bought in to what a coaching staff was trying to do. Obviously that covers all of the Norv years, but one could argue that the talented teams under Marty lacked a lot of discipline as well. It was also good to see that Rivers can still be a great quarterback when you keep the opposing defense off his back. He usually had time to throw in the first half, and his awareness in the pocket was much improved. And don’t go telling me that his INT was just another Rivers bad throw. You can argue he could have made the choice to throw to someone else, but the play Cushing made on that throw was phenomenal. Sometimes the defense makes an amazing play. If you mix in some solid play early from the front seven on defense, we can see that this team actually has a good base on which to build. Unfortunately, we also learned this team still has a ways to go. The offensive line was up and down. The running game got off to a good start early, but fizzled in the second half. Rookie DJ Fluker looked like a rookie. Not a horrible day, but he got beat badly a few times. The secondary of the Chargers was exposed as a real weak link. Shareece Wright looked good covering Andre Johnson early, but as the game went on it was clear that the secondary had no answers for Johnson and TE Owen Daniels. As the pass rush wore down, it looked like the Texans could pass against them at will. But worst of all, this team doesn’t have the depth needed to give guys a break and keep them fresh. The defensive line was gassed by the second half, and it was tough to keep the linebackers fresh. As mentioned, the secondary doesn’t have the guys needed to keep the Chargers in games against tough offenses, and that’s whether you’re looking at the starters or their backups. So what can we make of a tough week one loss? The Chargers should find a way to be competitive in a few games this year. They also will be just competitive enough to frustrate fans on many a Sunday over the next four-months. What did you think of the Chargers’ week one loss? Did it make you feel better about the Chargers’ prospects this year, or worse? Sound off on the comments section below. Follow Jeff Williams on Twitter: @JSWilliams75 – the best comments will get retweeted.

September 11, 2013

The Chargers have signed former Dolphins cornerback Richard Marshall to a one year contract. The veteran player joins the Chargers at a time when the team really needs some extra depth, and he brings with him a wealth of experience. Marshall has played in over 100 NFL games, starting in 59 of them over 7 seasons, and has collected 18 interceptions, 7 sacks, forced 3 fumbles and scored 2 touchdowns in his pro career. It’s this track record and potential to rebound after some injury setbacks that make him a welcome addition to the San Diego Chargers.

Marshall will now join Johnny Patrick, Derek Cox and Shareece Wright in a fight for the nickel cornerback spot in defense, and if he claims this spot as a starter it would be tantamount to him winning the jackpot at MobileSlots.net. Marshall’s signing comes after he was released from his 3 year contract with the Miami Dolphins earlier this week, which although was only signed in 2012 saw him miss the teams last 12 regular season games due to a back injury. He hadn’t missed a single NFL regular season game prior to 2012, and the Chargers are relying on him to live up to his pre-injury reputation.

The Chargers are the 4th NFL franchise Marshall has played for since 2010. It’s hoped that he can help GM Tom Telesco reenergise the team that is in desperate need of help in the secondary, after ranking 18th against the pass in the last season. Marshall was a standout player at Fresno State and was selected in the 2nd round of the NFL draft by the Panthers, where he went on to play 5 seasons before signing with the Cardinals in 2011. After 1 season with the Cardinals he signed with the Dolphins and has now claimed a spot in the Chargers during their offseason house cleaning.

The 28 year old Los Angeles native has had productive seasons as a starter in the NFL and Telesco is counting on him to assist the younger players who are struggling, or to stand in when injuries arise. The Chargers have been beleaguered by injuries recently and it’s hoped that Marshall has had his injury time and is back in full force. Marshall is a great locker room guy and with so much youth in the Chargers secondary he will be a great veteran influence both on field and off.

August 8, 2013

Chargers wide receiverDanario Alexander suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee this morning during the team’s training camp practice. No other information is available at this time.

August 7, 2013

The San Diego Chargers have sold enough tickets to lift the local blackout for Thursday night’s preseason matchup between the Chargers and the Seattle Seahawks at Qualcomm Stadium. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. The game will be shownlive in San Diego on KFMB-TV, Channel 8 and in Los Angeles and Orange County on KCBS-TV, Channel 2. Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts and former Chargers linebacker Billy Ray Smith will call the action.

Chargers.com

Pro Football Talk

USA Today

NFL.com

San Diego Union - Tribune

Yahoo! Sports

ESPN - AFC West

FOX Sports

About BOLTHYPE:
Established in the summer of 2006, BOLTHYPE has steadily become the premier San Diego Chargers blog on the internet. By choosing to remain independent, BOLTHYPE has built up a strong following without the support of blog networks, and continues to attract new readers everyday. BOLTHYPE is dedicated to providing our readers with fresh and informative takes on their favorite NFL team, the San Diego Chargers.